Tuesday, January 06, 2009

the beginning..........

cengal's first day in school yesterday. she was okay. very confident.i did not have to wait for her the entire session. i left her at about 7.30am for office.

she told me she does not have any fren yet in her class. nobody wants to fren her. i told her to be patient... he he he. a girl like her would not only get a lot of girlfrens, but also boyfrens. last sunday she asked me to rearrange her room. put a study table. hmm... hope this determination to study will always be in her heart.

I don’t know enough about the Middle East political theater to comment extensively on the recent ground invasion and ongoing Gaza situation. I didn’t go to school for international relations. I don’t know too much about the region’s tumultuous history.

But I do know this: violence fuels violence.

I was running on the treadmill today, watching CNN. An Israeli spokesperson was being interviewed. When asked about the goal of the invasion of Gaza, the spokesperson replied, “Our goal is peace.”

I nearly fell off the treadmill.

Peace?! As Israel attacks and invades Gaza, the flames of hatred are being fanned in countless Palestian hearts. Bombing Gaza will not lead to peace. Violence begets violence and hate begets hate.

Self-defense is one thing. The Hamas government has allegedly launched unprovoked missile attacks into Israel. If someone was firing rockets at my family, I’d probably want swift action in the name of self-defense to eliminate the threat. I can empathize with the Israelis on that front. But my goal would be to eliminate the threat. Not peace.

Israelis attack Palestinians. Palestinians then attack Israelis. Then Israelis retaliate again. It’s a bloody game of tit for tat that has gone on for too long. Ghandi once said, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.”

If the Israeli government really believes that it can bomb its way into a peaceful world, it is no wonder that they are in such a mess. It represents a complete lack of logic.